Farewell, Bingo

It's with a heavy heart that we say "Farewell" to our helper monkey, Bingo.

Bingo has been "the man" behind the scenes since day one, tending to the UBW social media accounts, making sure the website was updated, handling emails, and pretty much any odd task that we directed his way.

Safe travels, old friend!

Happy Holidays!

From all of us here at Uphill Both Ways - -

"Shock the Monkey"

Episode #119

Thanks to all of the schedule shuffling this episode would have originally been recorded and aired as episode #119 and there would be a Christmas episode waiting for you here. But that episode aired LAST week and this episode isn't really a Christmas-themed episode - although it is mentioned a few times. With THAT out of the way, settle down into your favorite chair and listen as Mike and Joe talk a little about "Planet of the Apes" and a fan-film they both reviewed called "Revision of the Planet of the Apes". And of course there's the regular segment - the SLP VHS Dub Tape Challenge - in which Mike lists what is on his six hour tape of "After School Awesomeness". It's the last show of 2021 - join us, won't you?

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/whenitwascool/UBW119_Shock_the_Monkey.mp3

It Must Be Christmas Time Again!

 

Movie Review - "Rocky Revision"

Another Hole in the Head Film Festival Review: “Rocky Revision” - Ain't Gonna Be No Rematch

By Mike Imboden

In addition to Revision of the Planet of the Apes, Jorge Torres-Torres has another film running at this year’s Another Hole in the Head Film Festival: Rocky Revision. Like the five-film franchise about a planet where apes evolved from man, Torres-Torres takes the five-film Rocky series — including the sixth, Rocky Balboa — and re-edits the proceedings to tell a slightly different tale than what Sylvester Stallone originally gave us. And, just like Apes, this sounds like it could be fun.

Unfortunately, it’s not as good as it sounds like it might be.

The Old School Kung Fu Fest Reviews - Part 2

“18 Bronzemen” and “Return of the 18 Bronzemen”

by Joseph Perry

New York City’s The Old School Kung Fu Fest delivers the jumps and jolts this month with both online and in-person options (details below). Focusing this year on 1970s titles from Joseph Kuo and his Hong Hwa International Films production company, the festival features showdowns and throwdowns in nine exciting features. Following are capsule reviews of two films in the fest that have received great-looking new 2K restorations. 

18 Bronzemen

Holy cow, what a movie! This is one of my all-time favorite kung fu films, thanks in no small part to the initial group of the titular warriors, who look like a cross between lower-budget versions of the original Marvel Iron Man and robots from a black-and-white serial of the 1930s. To graduate from Shaolin Temple, where they have trained to be kung fu specialists since they were small children, Tang Siu-Lung (Peng Tien) and his no-nonsense friend Brother Wan (Carter Wong) must defeat the bronzemen without being killed and pass other grueling, life-or-death tests. Kuo’s 18 Bronzemen is filled with political and personal intrigue, as characters are out to avenge the death of family members and topple the evil Qing ruling body. And then there is Polly Ling-Feng Shang-Kuan as Miss Lu, a young woman skilled in kung fu herself, who every character initially thinks is a man, despite her never really looking or sounding like one. This one is played much straighter than some of Kuo’s other later films playing at the festival. A good time is guaranteed with 18 Bronzemen, which has a much more imaginative plot than many revenge-focused kung fu films and puts its protagonists through much different wringers than the usual bigger-boss-level fights.

18 Bronzemen

Directed by: Joseph Kuo

Written by: Joseph Kuo and Hsin-Yi Chang

Produced by: Karlot/Kuo Hwa Motion Pictures Co./Taiwan Li Cheng Film Company

Genre: Action/Drama/War

Starring: Polly Ling-Feng Shang-Kuan, Peng Tien, Carter Wong

Runtime: 95 minutes

Rated: unrated

Country of origin: Taiwan/Hong Kong

Release Date: 1976

The Old School Kung Fu Fest Reviews - Part 1

“7 Grandmasters” and “36 Deadly Styles”

by Joseph Perry

New York City’s The Old School Kung Fu Fest delivers the jumps and jolts this month with both online and in-person options (details below). Focusing this year on 1970s titles from Joseph Kuo and his Hong Hwa International Films production company, the festival features showdowns and throwdowns in nine exciting features. Following are capsule reviews of two films in the fest that have received great-looking new 2K restorations.

7 Grandmasters

Shang-Kuan Cheng (Jack Long) is all set to retire as the best kung fu practitioner in his region, complete with official banner, when some rapscallion delivers a note claiming that he is not the best. Shang-Kuan Cheng then goes on a quest across the land with his four finest students, and they are followed by Hsia Hsiao-Ying (Yi Min-Li), who starts off as an annoyance but eventually becomes a fifth student. When Shang-Kuan Cheng was a student, his master entrusted him with a pamphlet detailing the Paie Mei Twelve Strikes, the pages about three of which were stolen by a masked man. Intrigue galore comes into play when Hsia Hsiao-Ying is deceived into believing that someone close to him murdered his parents, and the missing three strikes come into play. Long gets a fine showcase here to display his martial arts prowess, and the third act offers some fun surprises.

7 Grandmasters

Directed by: Joseph Kuo

Written by: Joseph Kuo and Da-Wei Kuo

Produced by: Hong Hwa Motion Picture Company

Genre: Action, comedy, drama

Starring: Jack Long, Yi Min-Li

Runtime: 89 minutes

Rated: unrated

Country of origin: Taiwan

Release Date: 1977

 

 

Barbara Crampton Discusses Her Film “Sacrifice”

Horror icon Barbara Crampton Talks About Her Career and Discusses Her Latest Film, “Sacrifice”

Barbara Crampton is a legend in horror cinema. From 1985’s Re-Animator to her four films this year including Jakob’s Wife and Superhost, her body of work has thrilled and chilled fright-fare fans around the world. On the eve of the UK TV premiere of Sacrifice, which Joseph reviewed for Diabolique (https://diaboliquemagazine.com/arrow-video-frightfest-digital-edition-2-reviews-held-the-sinners-and-sacrifice/), Crampton reflects on the early days of her career, tackling a Norwegian accent and the rise of pagan horror. Following is a syndicated interview.

Can you recall how you felt the first time you stepped onto a TV or film set?

BC: Yes, it was for the soap opera, ‘Days of Our Lives’, and it was my very first job, and I had one line, “Hi. I’m your cousin Trista from Colorado”. It was to the character Marlena Evans and subsequently I had whole storylines that lasted for about a year. 

I had extensive experience on stage but the first time I was on a television set it frightened me to death and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get that first line out of my mouth and I thought I was going to forget it, that I was going to screw it up. Then the spell was broken, and I was able to go on and start my career on screen.

"Christmas All Over Again"

Episode #118

Schedules and timing are a bear this time of year and Mike and Joseph were hit from all sides with conflicting commitments and surprise events, so there was no way to get together and record a new episode. But fret not! Using technological wizardry, the guys have cobbled together a "Best of Christmas Episodes" clip show. So, grab that eggnog, open up that tin of sugar cookies, and enjoy nearly an hour of Uphill Both Ways Memories.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/whenitwascool/UBW118_Christmas_All_Over_Again.mp3

Movie Review - "Hurt" (2021)

Following a Haunted Hayride, a Couple Learns What it Means to "Hurt"

by Mike Imboden

As the movie starts we’re told this is “inspired by real events” and as things begin to play out it looks as though we’ll be visiting some fairly familiar slasher flick tropes and situations.  It’s at this point that director Sonny Mallhi throws a curve ball and we see that Hurt may not be precisely what we expect it to be.